Torsional railway car coupler centering device

ABSTRACT

A coupler-centering devices includes a rack on the bottom of the coupler shank having longitudinal gear teeth so that lateral movement of the coupler causes rotation of a gear segment. The gear segment is adjustably spring mounted and is connected to a torsion rod through a hand-operated clutch. The torsion rod extends parallel to the centerline of the car immediately below the coupler shank, and its inner end is fixed to the car. Alternatively, the rod may serve as a shaft to turn a torsional rubber shear structure. The teeth of the rack are long enough to permit buff and draft movement of the coupler.

United States Patent Robert W. Randolph St. Charles;

Charles E. Reedy, Brldgeton, both of Mo. 4,298

Jan. 20, 1970 Nov. 30, 197 l ACF Industries, Incorporated New York, N.Y.

Inventors Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee TORSIONAL RAILWAY CARCOUPLER Primary Examiner- Drayton E. l-lofiman Attorneys-Samuel .I.Snyder and Eugene N. Riddle ABSTRACT: A coupler-centering devicesincludes a rack on the bottom of the coupler shank having longitudinalgear teeth so that lateral movement of the coupler causes rotation of agear segment. The gear segment is adjustably spring mounted and isconnected to a torsion rod through a hand-operated clutch. The torsionrod extends parallel to the centerline of the car immediately below thecoupler shank, and its inner end is fixed to the car. Alternatively, therod may serve as a shaft to turn a torsional rubber shear structure. Theteeth of the rack are long enough to permit buff and draft movement ofthe coupler.

PATENTEDuuv 30 l97l SHEET 1 [)F 4 INVENTORS. ROBERT W. RANDOLPH CHARLESE. REEDY ATTORNEY PATENTEDNUV 30 IQII SHEET 30F 4 a T w 'IORSIONALRAILWAY CAR COUPLER CENTERING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It isnecessary, particularly in long railways cars, to provide forconsiderable lateral movement of the coupler. For this purpose, theinner end of the coupler shank may be pivoted and springs provided forreturning the coupler to its center position, as well as means fordisconnecting the coupler shank from the springs to permit easy manualmovement of the coupler from its center position. In such arrangementsit is necessary to make the centering arrangement operable when thecoupler is in different draft and buff positions. In order to meet allthese requirements, coupler centering devices have become complicated.It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple, effective,compact and reliable centering device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is applied to a coupler which isswingable about a pivot at the inner end of the shank and is movable inbuff and draft. A motion-converting device includes a gear rack fixed tothe underside of the shank, with the teeth of the rackextendinglongitudinally a sufficient distance to accommodate full but?and draft movement. A gear segment is held in mesh with the rack and isconnected through a hand operated clutch to a torsion bar, the inner endof which is fixed to the car. The outer end of the torsion bar extendsthrough the center of the gear segment to a spring-mounted support whichis adjustable in height to adjust the height of the coupler. In analternative arrangement, the gear segment is connected through theclutch to a rod coupled to a cylindrical rubber shear spring devicefixed to the center sill. A swinging movement of the coupler shank turnsthe gear segment, and therefore places the torsion bar or the rubbershear pad under tension. The coupler is therefore urged toward itscenter position. If it is desired to move the coupler to an off-centerposition manually, for coupling to another car, the clutch is operatedto disconnect the gear segment from the torsion or shear or shear pad.Thereafter, when the coupler returns to its center position duringoperation, the gear segment is reconnected to the torsion bar or sheardevice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a schematic top plan view ofthe coupler shank and the end of the center sill.

FIG. 2 is side view, partly in section, of the coupler centering device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line 4--4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side view, partly in section, of another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 6 6 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The drawing is directedparticularly to the end of the underside of a railroad car to show acoupler and the application of the invention thereto. It is obvious thatsimilar apparatus will be provided at both ends of the car. The car hasa deck 10 and a center sill 12 having a flared end 14. A coupler 16includes a coupler head 18 and a shank 20 extending into the center silland having pivot 22 at its' inner end for permitting lateral swingingmovement of the coupler. A rack 24 is fixed to the bottom of shank 20and meshes with gear segment 26. The teeth of rack 24 are ofconsiderable length so that segment 26 and rack 24 remain in meshthroughout the range of cushioned buff and draft movement of coupler 16.A rod or bar 28 extends through opening 30 in the gear segment 26 ndinto hub 31 of plate 32. Plate 32 is mounted on bracket 34 which isfixed to the underside of center sill I2. The support for plate 32includes a pair of springs 36. 38 and a pair of bolts 40, 42 connectedto plate 32 and extending through springs 36, 38 and bottom ledge 44 ofbracket 34. Nuts 46, 48 are set to hold the platen bracket 34 under adesired amount of tension and at a selected height, to adjust the heightat which coupler I6 is held by gear segment 26.

Gear segment 26 is coupled to rod 28 through clutch 50 including aclutch element 52 adapted to engage one face of gear 26. Clutch element52 is slidable along a square portion 51 of rod 28. Clutch element 52has a groove 53 which receives the ends of bail 55 of crank 54. Bail 55is welded to cross bar 56, which is pivoted in a pair of hangers 57.Gear segment 26 has a pair of diametrically located projections 59adapted to extend into slots 60 in clutch element 52. It is evident thatthe clutch will normally be engaged due to the weight of handle 58, butwhen the latter is lifted, the clutch will be disengaged from gearsegment 26. The inner end of rod extends into sleeve 62, having aclose-fitting square opening. Sleeve 62 is fixed to the underside ofcenter sill 12 to hold the inner end of rod 28 against rotation andlongitudinal movement.

When coupler 16 is connected to the coupler of another car it moveslaterally as the cars travel round a curve. The movement of rack 24turns gear segment 26, clutch 50, and end 51 of rod 28. This causes atorsional twist in the round portion 64 of the rod, so that a strongrestoring force is exerted by rod 28 to recenter coupler 16. If it isdesired to position coupler head 18 off-center manually for coupling toanother car, handle 58 is raised. Crank 54 is then turned to pivot 56,moving bail 55 rearwardly. Clutch 50 then moves rearwardly out ofengagement with projections 59 on gear segment 26. Coupler I6 can thenbe moved laterally without twisting rod 28. Gear segment 26 remainsdeclutched until coupler l6 recenters; then clutch 50 is moved by theweight of handle 58 into engagement with projections 59 of gear segment26.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 utilizes the motion-convertingmeans shown in FIGS. I to 4, including rack 24, gear segment 26, supportand coupler height adjustment means 32-48, and clutch 50. Bar 68,however, is not a spring torsion device but serves to couple gear 26through clutch 50 to a cylindrical shear structure 70. Shear structureincludes a rigid inner tube 72 and outer annular bodies 74. One or moreannular shear pads 76 of an elastomeric material are bonded between tube72 and outer bodies 74. Outer body 74 is fixed to center sill 12 bybrackets 78, 80. Bar 68 is fastened to tube 72, so that rotation of bar68 on its axis causes turning of tube 72 to place shear pads 76 understress. Thus shear structure 70 tends to restore the coupler to itscenter position after a displacement. The operation of the structure ofFIGS. 5 and 6 is, therefore, generally the same as that of FIGS. I to 4.The coupler may be cushioned in any conventional manner for buff anddraft movement, and in any buff or draft position is movable laterallyunder the control of the recentering mechanism exercised through thegear and rack, which normally remain in mesh. When declutched, therecentering mechanism is automatically restored to operative conditiononly when the coupler reaches its center position.

We claim:

I. A centering arrangement for a railway car coupler having a shankwhich is movable laterally, comprising a torsion spring device having anaxis of rotation parallel to the centerline of the car, said torsiondevice being mounted in a fixed position below the coupler shank; andmotion-converting means connecting the shank to said torsion device fortranslating lateral movement of the shank into rotation of said torsiondevice about said axis, said motion-converting means including a rackfixed on the underside of the coupler shank and a gear element coupledto said rack and fixed to said torsion device for rotating the same.

2. A coupler centering arrangement according to claim I, wherein saidtorsion device is a torsion bar parallel to the centerline of the carhaving its inner end fixed to the car and its outer end connected tosaid gear element.

3. A coupler centering arrangement according to claim I, wherein saidtorsion device includes a cylindrical rubber shear device having anaxial portion fixedly connected to said gear element and an outerportion fixed to the car.

' 4. A coupler centering arrangement according to claim 1 including amanually operated clutch connected between said gear element and saidtorsion device.

5. A coupler centering arrangement according to claim 1, including meansfixed to the car for supporting said gear element resiliently andadjusting the height of said gear element.

6. An arrangement according to claim 1, including a clutch connectedbetween said gear element and said torsion device. means for manuallydisconnecting said clutch, and means for reconnecting said clutchautomatically when the coupler is in the center sill parallel thereto;and motion converting means connecting the coupler shank to one side ofsaid torsion device for translating lateral movement of the shank intorotary movement of the torsion device, said motion converting meansincluding a gear rack in fixed relation to the shank and located on thebottom of the shank and a gear fixed to said torsion device andcoupledto said rack, the teeth of the rack extending along the shanksufficient distances forwardly and rearwardly of said gear to remaincoupled to said gear during draft or buff movements of the shank.

8. An arrangement according to claim 7, wherein said torsion device is acylindrical rubber shear device, and a shaft extends along said axis andis fixed to said shear device and said gear to form the axes thereof.

9. An arrangement according to claim 7, including means fordisconnecting the coupler shank from said torsion device manually andfor reconnecting the coupler shank to said torsion device automaticallywhen the coupler shank is in its center position.

1. A centering arrangement for a railway car coupler having a shankwhich is movable laterally, comprising a torsion spring device having anaxis of rotation parallel to the centerline of the car, said torsiondevice being mounted in a fixed position below the coupler shank; andmotion-converting means connecting the shank to said torsion device fortranslating lateral movement of the shank into rotation of said torsiondevice about said axis, said motion-converting means including a rackfixed on the underside of the coupler shank and a gear element coupledto said rack and fixed to said torsion device for rotating the same. 2.A coupler centering arrangement according to claim 1, wherein saidtorsion device is a torsion bar parallel to the centerline of the carhaving its inner end fixed to the car and its outer end connected tosaid gear element.
 3. A coupler centering arrangement according to claim1, wherein said torsion device includes a cylindrical rubber sheardevice having an axial portion fixedly connected to said gear elementand an outer portion fixed to the car.
 4. A coupler centeringarrangement according to claim 1 including a manually operated clutchconnected between said gear element and said torsion device.
 5. Acoupler centering arrangement according to claim 1, including meansfixed to the car for supporting said gear element resiliently andadjusting the height of said gear element.
 6. An arrangement accordingto claim 1, including a clutch connected between said gear element andsaid torsion device, means for manually disconnecting said clutch, andmeans for reconnecting said clutch automatically when the coupler is inits normal center position.
 7. A coupler centering arrangement for arailway car comprising a center sill and a coupler having a couplinghead and a shank which is pivotally connected to the car at its innerend for lateral swinging movement of its outer end, comprising a torsionspring device having an axis of rotation parallel to the centerline ofthe car, said torsion device being mounted below the center sillparallel thereto; and motion converting means connecting the couplershank to one side of said torsion device for translating lateralmovement of the shank into rotary movement of the torsion device, saidmotion converting means including a gear rack in fixed relation to theshank and located on the bottom of the shank and a gear fixed to saidtorsion device and coupled to said rack, the teeth of the rack extendingalong the shank sufficient distances forwardly and rearwardly of saidgear to remain coupled to said gear during draft or buff movements ofthe shank.
 8. An arrangement according to claim 7, wherein said torsiondevice is a cylindrical rubber shear device, and a shaft extends alongsaid axis and is fixed to said shear device and said gear to form theaxes thereof.
 9. An arrangement according to claim 7, including meansfor disconnecting the coupler shank from said torsion device manuallyand for reconnecting the coupler shank to said torsion deviceautomatically when the coupler shank is in its center position.